1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to a connector which connects a plate-like object to be connected, such as an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) or an FFC (Flexible Flat Cable), to a printed circuit board or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been proposed a connector comprised of a housing, holddowns, a plurality of contacts, and a pivotally-movable member (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 3089464, Paragraphs 0020 to 0024, FIG. 6).
The housing has an opening which receives one end of a flexible cable.
The holddowns are each formed of a metal plate having an electrical conductivity, and are attached to opposite side walls of the housing, respectively. By soldering the holddowns to pads on a printed circuit board, the connector is fixed to the printed circuit board. The pads to which the holddowns are soldered lead to ground of the printed circuit board.
The contacts are arranged side by side in the housing in a predetermined direction. Each contact includes a contact portion, a terminal portion, and a pivot portion. The contact portion is at a front end of a lower part of the contact, as viewed in FIG. 6 of the above-mentioned publication, and is brought into contact with a conductor pattern on a lower surface of the flexible cable which is inserted in the opening. The terminal portion is at a rear end of the lower part of the contact, and is connected to the printed circuit board. The pivot portion is engaged with a recess of the pivotally-movable member to rotatably support the pivotally-movable member.
The pivotally-movable member is comprised of a pivotally-movable member main body and a shell. The pivotally-movable member main body is made of an insulating material. The shell is made of a conductive material having elasticity, and covers the pivotally-movable member main body. The shell has contact portions formed at opposite ends thereof. When the pivotally-movable member closes the opening of the housing, the shell is brought into contact with a shield on the upper surface of the flexible cable which is inserted in the opening, and the contact portions of the shell are brought into contact with the holddowns, respectively.
To connect the flexible cable to the printed circuit board using the above-described connector, first, the pivotally-movable member is rotated to open the opening of the housing.
Next, one end of the flexible cable is inserted into the opening of the housing.
Finally, the pivotally-movable member is rotated to close the opening of the housing. At this time, the conductor pattern on the lower surface of the flexible cable is electrically connected to a conductor pattern on the printed circuit board via the contacts, and the shield on the upper surface of the flexible cable is electrically connected to a ground pattern on the printed circuit board via the shell and the holddowns.
In the above-described connector, the shield on the upper surface of the flexible cable is electrically connected to the ground pattern on the printed circuit board via the holddowns located at the opposite ends of the housing.
Although the contacts which are close to the opposite ends of the housing are also close to the holddowns, the contacts which are located at an intermediate portion of the housing are far from the holddowns, so that the electrical characteristics of the connector are degraded as a whole.